News

google-53-24,ph01 — People arrive at the recently opened Google building in New York on Feb. 26. The DOJ and Google made their closing arguments Friday in a high-stakes antitrust trial to a federal judge in Washington who must now decide whether the tech giant’s search engine constitutes an illegal monopoly. – AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File

High-stakes antitrust case against Google wraps up

Google’s preeminence as an internet search engine is an illegal monopoly propped up by more than $20 billion spent each year by the tech giant to lock out competition, Justice Department lawyers argued at the closings of a high-stakes antitrust lawsuit.

By Matthew Barakat

Illinois House Democrats muscle through changes to ballot access

Supermajority Democrats in the Illinois House moved quickly Wednesday to push through a change to state election laws that partially limits ballot access and adds three nonbinding referendums to the 2024 general election ballot.

By Jerry Nowicki, Hannah Meisel and Peter Hancock

Illinois poised to enforce law to end lending discrimination

In 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Community Reinvestment Act, a federal law that sought to wipe away the last vestiges of racial discrimination and redlining in America’s home mortgage industry.

By Peter Hancock

Cook County jury awards $23M in birth injury suit

A Cook County jury awarded $23 million to a 7-year-old girl and her parents for birth injuries from a delayed Cesarean section that resulted in brain damage and cerebral palsy.

By Grace Barbic

Judge won’t toss BIPA claim not disclosed in bankruptcy

A man whose list of assets in his bankruptcy case did not initially include his potential privacy claims against his former employer is not barred from pursuing those claims, a federal judge held.

By Patricia Manson

Woman prevails in seeking coverage of switched $140K diamond

A woman who alleged her husband swapped the diamond out of her $140,000 engagement ring is entitled to coverage under the innocent insured doctrine, an appellate panel ruled.

By Emma Oxnevad

7th Circuit remands damages judgment on 2020 riot

A restitution order instructing a Champaign man to pay $1.68 million for damages resulting from a riot he incited will be returned to the district court for reevaluation of its scope, but his indictment and sentence will stand.

By Grace Barbic

Women outnumber men as early-career Illinois lawyers, ARDC says

Early-career women attorneys in Illinois outnumbered male attorneys with similar experience levels for the first time in 2023, according to data from the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

By Emma Oxnevad